Half to l



STANLEY O. HASKINS, OF OHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO L. XV. LLEW'ELLYN AND J. E. EVANS, OF SAME PLACE.

NUT-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 599,448, dated February 22, 1898.

Application filed April 24:, 1897.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, STANLEY O. I-IAsKnNs, acitizen of the United States,residing at Ohattanooga, in the county of Hamilton and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Nut-Lock of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in nut-locks.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of nut-locks and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient one adapted to be readily applied to single nuts to lock them securely against accidental unscrewing and capable of enabling a nut to be readily removed when desired.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide a nut-lock which will be capable of eX- panding to hold a nut perfectly tight should the head of a bolt settle slightly.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a nut-lock constructed in accordance with this invention and applied to a rail-joint. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional View. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the attachmentplate. Fig. i is a similar View of the locking plate.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates an attachment-plate constructed of resilient metal, provided with a boltopening and interposed between the inner face of a nut 2 and a fish-plate 3, and it is corrugated in order that it maybe compressed when the nut is screwed on its bolt 4, whereby the attachmentplate is adapted to expand and hold the nut perfectly tight should the head of the bolt settle slightly, as is often the case.

The attachment-plate is slit or cut longitudinally at one end at opposite sides of the center, forming a central tongue 5 and side tongues 6, arranged above and below the central tongue. The central tongue, which is adapted to engage a locking-plate 7, extends Serial No. 633,742. (No model.)

through an opening 8 thereof and is bent substantially V-shaped in order to embrace partially a pintle 9, which is formed by the opening 8. The opening 8, which is disposed adjacent to one end of the locking-plate, leaves the narrow strip or pintle portion 9 to be engaged by the central tongue, as above set forth. The side tongues extend outward slightly and engage the outer edge of the locking-plate with sufficient spring to hold the locking-plate firmly in engagement with the nut. The locking-plate is provided at its engaging edge with a V-shaped recess 10, arranged to receive one corner of the nut and engage two of the side faces thereof, whereby the nut is firmly held against accidental unscrewing. When it is desired to remove the nut, the locking-plate is swung outward. The spring-tongues 6 hold the pintle portion of the locking-plate in the bend of the central tongue and prevent the locking-plate from becoming accidentally detached from the attachment-plate.

Although the nut-lock is shown applied to a portion of the rail-joint, yet it is applicable to various constructions and machinery Where it is desirable to prevent a nut from accidentally unscrewing.

The corrugations of the attachment-plate, besides serving to hold the nut tight, also operate to offset the side tongues from the fishplate and increase the resiliency of the hinged joint. WVhen the locking-plate is swung away from the nut, the side tongues and the central tongue yield and all of the strain is not centered on the central tongue 5, as would be the case were the attachment-plate perfectly straight and arranged flat against the fishplate. The corrugations also serve another useful purpose and render the nut-lock adjustable to fit nuts varying slightly in size. By screwing a nut tightly against the corrugated attachment-plate the latter is expanded and lengthened and will enable the lockingplate to engage a nut slightly larger than it could were the corrugated plate not compressed to such a degree.

It will be seen that the nut-lock is simple and comparatively inexpensive in construction, that it is positive and reliable in operation and capable of effectually prevent-ing a nut from accidentally unscrewing, and that it will permit a nut to be readily removed without impairingit. It will also be seen that the corrugated plate is adapted to be compressed when the nut is screwed on the bolt and that it will expand and hold the nut perfectly tight should the head of the bolt settle slightly.

What I claim is A nut-lock comprising a locking-plate provided with an opening forming a pintle, and an attachment-plate constructed of resilient material, provided with a bolt-opening and split longitudinally at opposite sides of the center, forming central and side tongues, the central tongue extending through the opening of the locking-plate and the side tongues engaging the outer edge of the latter to form a hinge-joint said attachment-plate being corrugated and increasing the resiliency of the hinge-joint and capable of compression whereby it is lengthened to enable the locking-plate to engage nuts varying slightly in size, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

STANLEY O. HASKINS.

Witnesses:

FRANK TRESTER SMITH, J. H. MCLEAN. 

